Losing is getting old very quickly for Browns top draft picks Trent Richardson and Brandon Weeden.

Mistakes that contributed to losing, 25-15, to the Ravens on Sunday at Cleveland Browns Stadium just don't happen with regularity at Alabama or Oklahoma State, where Richardson and Weeden played, respectively.

The Browns used two timeouts in the first half and one in the second, not to preserve time, but because they would have been called for a delay of game penalty if they didn't. As it turned out, they still had one timeout left when Phil Dawson kicked a field goal with three seconds left in the first half, but the futility of not being able to run a play before the play clock expired is reflective of their 2-7 record.

"I'm not going to comment on that," Weeden said in his post-game news conference when asked what went wrong.

Advertisement

On his way to his locker before meeting with reporters, however, he was heard to mutter: "Can't even get the play call."

Coach Pat Shurmur did not blame a helmet malfunction. There seemed to be confusion about which formation the coaches wanted the players to be in.

"We had a couple times when the communication just wasn't right," Shurmur said. "All the plays are critical enough where we felt like we needed to call time out and talk about it. We need to get a little smoother with that."

Weeden had statistically his worst game since the opener. He was 20 of 37 passing for 176 yards with two interceptions. His passer rating was 44.4.

The Browns had excellent field position in the second half. They started drives on their 49, 20, 44, 46 and 43 before being backed up to their 20 and 14 the final two times they had the ball in the half, and all they had to show for it was two Phil Dawson field goals. Their second possession of the third quarter ended with Weeden throwing an interception under pressure. He said he was trying to throw the ball into the ground at the feet of intended target Jordan Cameron, a second-year tight end. Cameron never turned around, and cornerback Cary Williams made a diving interception.

"It was a deeper progression play, so I was looking to get a little deeper," Cameron said. "I didn't know what was going on in the backfield."

Richardson and the Crimson Tide were on their way to a national championship one year ago. Alabama lost only four games in Richardson's three-year career. The Browns will double that before Thanksgiving unless they beat the Cowboys in Dallas on Nov. 18.

"It's just like, 'Why are we holding back, guys?' " Richardson said. "We have to get down there, we have to score every time we get a chance, and anything they give us, we have to win.

"When the outcome comes and we do one thing better than we did each week, there's no way we can lose the game probably before. We have to make sure we're making better plays, giving it all we can."

Richardson rushed for 105 yards. Last week, he rushed for 122 yards and a touchdown when the Browns beat the Chargers, 7-6. The back-to-back 100-yard games mean nothing to him. The losing is eating at him.

"It's very disappointing," Richardson said. "So we have to go in tomorrow and we have to game plan better for Dallas. I know that's two weeks from here, but we have a week off, we still have in our heads, at home or wherever we're at, that we have Dallas to play next, and we have to go out there and do everything we can. We have to make sure we get better every day while we're just sitting at home resting our bodies."

The Browns report to Berea on Monday and practice Tuesday. Shurmur is giving them Wednesday through next Sunday off.